Basketball

John Wall and Bradley Beal took over in the fourth quarter as the Wizards overcame a second half deficit and beat the Hawks, 109-101 to take a 2-0 series lead on Wednesday. The House of Guards combined for 63 points, led by Wall with 32 and Beal with 31. Marcin Gortat also notched another double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds as the Wizards protected home court.

Just like in Game 1, Washington was able to get out to an early lead in this one, using a 14-0 run to take a 16-6 lead midway through the first quarter. However, the refs were very loose with the whistle throughout the game and it hurt Washington as Markieff Morris and Otto Porter were sidelined with two early fouls.

The bench had a much better showing in the first half this time as Brandon Jennings hit a layup on a blocked Kelly Oubre dunk while Bogdanovic knocked down his first three of the series on the very next play as the Wizards built a cushion with their bench. But like the first quarter, the refs took over this quarter as they continued to blow the whistles.

Atlanta opted to go small to end the second quarter with Mike Muscala at center and Gortat made them pay. Gortat scored eight points in the period as the Wizards stretched the lead out to eight and led, 51-43 at halftime.

The stop and start play carried over into the second half as the refs continued to enjoy hearing themselves blow the whistle. The Wizards were in the penalty just 3:15 in the third quarter and Morris, Porter, and Oubre all picked up their fourth personal fouls during that time frame. The Hawks adjusted as they kept going with Millsap on the offensive end and the Wizards couldn’t do anything about it defensively fearing they’d get called for a foul. Millsap scored 14 in the period as the Wizards lost their eight-point lead and trailed 78-74 entering the fourth quarter.

Brandon Jennings picked the most opportune time as a Wizard to get hot. With the Wizards trailing by six, Jennings connected on three straight field goals followed by a drive and dish to Smith for the dunk to tie the game at 84.

The lead seesawed back and forth but Bradley Beal rose to the occasion and knocked down some big shots en route to 16 fourth quarter points to help Washington take the lead.

With the Wizards up three, John Wall poked the ball behind from Kent Bazemore and Otto Porter threw him a touchdown pass for a dunk as the Wizards took a 103-98 lead. On the next possession, John Wall found Bradley Beal who curled off a screen for a three-pointer for the dagger.

Editors Pick

I READ somewhere that the DPWH is allocating mega billions for infrastructure projects designed to ease the traffic problem besetting much of urban Philippines. I can imagine how a big chunk of that moolah will be devoted to infra projects within Metro Manila - more street widenings, more flyovers, maybe more pedestrian overpasses and underpasses as well as flood control.

As I flew out of Manila yesterday morning I noticed that it happened to be a clear day over most of the NCR, and what big clouds there were weren’t big enough to cover everything. So our PAL Airbus A330 flew around the giant clouds and in between them you could catch a glimpse of considerable sections of Metro Manila. My younger brother seated behind me pointed out UP Diliman - and I marveled at the way the campus was green as seen from the air and at how it was laid out.

SO says the text on an Independence Day special edition mug issued by Bo’s Coffee for June 12. I smiled upon reading the text because I had some friends in mind who have chosen to remain free (and, they claim, happy) all their lives. (These are the ones who divide their friends by saying half are married and half are happy!) And then I started thinking about the country - and whether indeed Filipinos are happy and free.